1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic packaging assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuits are typically assembled to a package. As shown in FIG. 1 a number of integrated circuit packages 1 can be mounted to a printed circuit board 2, commonly referred to as a daughterboard. A number of daughterboards can be plugged into electrical connectors 3 that are mounted to another printed circuit board 4, commonly referred to as a motherboard.
The integrated circuits generate heat which must be removed to maintain the junction temperatures of the circuits within operational limits. The heat is typically removed by an airstream 5 that is generated by a fan (not shown). The air flows between the spaces 6 that separate the daughterboards 2.
The motherboard 4 contains routing traces and power/ground busses that support the operation of the daughterboards 2. The integrated circuits of one daughterboard 2 communicate with the integrated circuits of another daughterboard 2 through the connectors 3 and the motherboard 4.
The daughterboards 2 may contain relatively high speed integrated circuits such as a central processing unit (CPU) and accompanying electrical devices such as memory, etc. The electrical signals transmitted through the motherboard 4 are susceptible to electrical noise that may degrade the performance of the circuits. The noise can be minimized by narrowing the spaces 6 between the daughterboards 2. The smaller spaces 6 reduce the lengths of the routing traces of the motherboard 4. Unfortunately, reducing the spaces 6 also chokes off the air flow that removes the heat from the integrated circuits. The length of the routing traces are therefore limited by the thermal requirements of the assembly. It would be desirable to provide an electronic package assembly that minimizes the routing length of the motherboard while providing enough space between adjacent daughterboards to allow an air flow that is sufficient to remove heat from the integrated circuits.